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Friday, September 7, 2018

The Canaries are hard birds to breed, but not tough to feed. Luckily most canary food manufacturers know how fickle the diet of the canary can be and have developed proper mixtures aimed at keeping your bird's health in check. Canary grass seed should be a staple of your canary's diet and you should always check the ingredients to make sure this ingredient is at least 50% of the mixture if you're buying a seed mixture (this will vary for special "moulting mixes" or "color feed).

Canary grass seed originates from the same place canaries originally do (Mediterranean), and while it doesn't give them all the nutrition they need: It gives them more than other foods. They also require a food that's high in various vitamins and minerals (calcium is one of the important minerals in any good canary food). When you're breeding canaries; special moulting formulas should be used, which are high in protein, contain more fat content, and also have an extra boost of calcium -- all of which aid your pretty pet in their egg production.

One of the great things about owning a canary is their ability to entertain and look gorgeous, without needing your constant attention. Since the canary is known as a "birds bird", rather than a "people bird" like the parrot -- all you need to worry about is feeding them a proper diet and keeping their cage clean. Your canary will give you very little grief and a lot of fun with their singing ability and strange, endearing gestures.

You can feed your canary almost any fruit, nut, or vegetable that you would eat (other than avocado which contains too much fat). Canary food that you can feed them out of your fridge includes lettuce, pear, apple, small bits of carrot, peanut, cashew, and any pepper you can think of. Just remember that they are a soft beak bird, so any shelled food they get needs to fit into their mouth easily so they don't harm their beak.

Friday, June 22, 2018

Big time symphonists turn their attention to the sounds of thunder, but a lyrical composer listens to bird sounds like that of canaries. I have a flutist friend who keeps canaries in a spare room in his home.

His canaries are called border canaries, the singing kind, all yellow in color. It is only the males that sing with songs as memorable as stashed-away kisses. Not only that, my friend plays his music with his canaries, for they listen and imitate him and sometimes perch on his flute.

Canaries live about ten to fourteen years and can reproduce twice a year. My flutist friend's canaries, now about twenty in number, descended from two canaries, since just a few years back.

He says their daily upkeep doesn't cost much and they are clean birds. Still, the most important thing a bird lover can do is to keep his canary cages or the room used as aviary sparkling clean. Canaries, as all birds, are more susceptible to diseases in a dirty environment.

Direct exposure to sun, too much outside noise, polluted air, sudden temperature changes, bad diet, lack of exercise can make canaries seriously ill. The Canaries should never be exposed to damp and drafty conditions since they can develop asthma and rheumatism. Should a canary become ill, the best bet is to consult a veterinarian.

These birds are accident prone, also. Bookshelves, wastebaskets, couches and big upholstered armchairs can serve as death-traps. The Canaries are known to fly into mirrors and windows and sustain concussions and broken limbs, too. If a spare room is to be made into an aviary, the furniture should consist of simple tables without drawers and wooden chairs.

Canaries have a light skeleton as they can fly and dart across a room, and they need large cages and space to fly. As most birds, they have a very high rate of metabolism that burns up energy during flight.

What a canary eats is important for its health. The seeds have to be fresh and drinking water clean. Canaries drink the water they bathe in. So, the saucers they bathe in should contain the same quality of water in their water bottles. Non-carbonated mineral water is best. Tap water, if chlorinated, is not good for any bird.

A proper diet for a canary consist of birdseed mixture, organic fruits, and vegetable greens, spray millet, cuttlebone or mineral stone, and once in a while, sprouts, fresh twigs, and hard-boiled egg yolk with low-fat cottage cheese. Pesticide sprayed greens, fruit pits, and the skin of an avocado act like poisons for a canary.

The eyes of a canary work independently of each other, and through the use of its eyes, a canary orients itself to its environs. The vision of a canary draws almost a full circle of 320 degrees.

Canaries also possess an acute hearing. The structure of a canary's ear is akin to that of mammal, but without a flap. Otherwise, how else would the bird imitate a flute?

It is fun to watch canaries in their daily life. They preen themselves, and out of friendship, each other. In addition, the courting birds dance and feed each other. When the birds are relaxed and happy, they sit on one leg and may puff their plumage.

When a canary sleeps, it partially buries its head in its back and fluffs up its feathers. Canaries sleep through the night and are awake at daytime, but a relaxed and non-threatened bird may take short naps during the daytime.

Male canaries may sing as they fly over what they consider to be their territory. They also sing while attracting the female. The female may sing too; although the female bird has the necessary organs for singing, its voice is so soft that it is not heard.

When two canaries threaten each other, they raise their beaks and flap their wings. In general, however, canaries in a colony live peacefully together.

All birds hate to be seized, especially because human fingers hurt their feathers. If a canary escapes from its cage, it is better to cajole it back rather than to try grasping it.

Keeping a single male canary alone in a cage is not fair to the bird, no matter how good a care its owner might give him. A pair of canaries and a very large cage is the least you can do if you want canaries in your life.